Closed-conduit electric railway



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G. E. BAIRD. CLOSED GOND'UIT ELECTRIC RAILWAY. No. 538,650. Patented May 7, 1895.

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G. E. BAIRD.

CLOSED CONDUIT ELECTRIC RAILWAY. No. 538,650. Patented May 7, 1895.

OBRIS PETERS 120.. mmouma, WASHINGTON. D c.

NITED STATES FFQE ATENT GEORGE E. BAIRD, OF CHICAGO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO IVILLIAM D. HENKEE AND ANDREW REINER, OF BLUE ISLAND, ILLINOIS.

CLQSED-CONDUlT ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 538,650, dated May 7, 1895.

Application filed June 11, 1894. Serial No. 514,198. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. BAIRD, a c tizen of the United States of America, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Closed-Conduit Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in electric railways of that class in which the motors that propel the cars receive their current through a conductor lying in a conduit which runs along the car-track.

The invention is fully described and explained in this specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view, partly in longitudinal vertical section and partly in side elevation, showing a conduit provided with the conductors forming part of my invention and the contactmaking bar dependent from a car. Fig. 2 is a similar enlarged view of the same elements shown in Fig. 1. Fig. Sis a top plan of the parts shown in Fig. 2. plan of the conductors and their movable contact-levers, the top of the box containing the levers being removed and certain parts shown in section. Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section through the line 5 5, Fig. 4, the view being in the direction indicated by the arrow a, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section through the line 6 6, Fig. 2, the view being in the direction indicated by the arrow a, Fig. 2.

In the views, A is a conduit of suitable form, preferablyprovided with ribs, A, and having the usual upwardly open longitudinal slot bounded by slot-rails, A Near the bottom of the conduit are suitably supported parallel lines of pipe-sections, B, B, and at suitable intervals two part boxes, C, O, are set in the lines of sections and receive the ends thereof, the ends of the pipes being screwed or otherwise set into the boxes. Conducting wires, W, W, connected with a dynamo or other source of electrical supply are inclosed in the pipes, 13, B, and pass through the compartments, 0, C, respectively, of the boxes, one being the supply and the other the return wire of the system. Each of the wires, W, W, has attached to it, at a suitable point in Fig. 4 is atop each of the boxes, 0, 0, two brushes, 1) or 1), preferably of spring metal and curved ontwardat their upper ends as shown in Fig. 5. In thewalls of each of the boxes are journaled two hollow transverse shafts, D,D,Figs. 2, 4. and 5, and on the outer ends of these shafts respectively are rigidly mounted hollow rocking levers, E, E, bearing contact rollers, R, R, of conducting material. On the inner ends of the shafts, D, D, are mounted hollow rocking levers, F, F, weighted at one end as shown in Fig. 2 and terminating at their opposite ends in contact blocks,f,f, normally held above the brushes 6, b, but adapted to be depressed so as to make contact therewith. Wires, w,w, connect the contact blocks, f,f', respectively, with the contact rollers, R, R.

The conduit, A, lies preferably between the rails of an ordinary car-track adapted to support wheeled cars of ordinary construction, any or all the cars being provided withsuitable electric motors for their propulsion. Each motor-car is provided with a dependent hollow arm, G, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 6, extending downward through the slot between the rails, A A and moving freely along the conduit, and this arm supports a transverse bar, G, to whose ends are fastened two parallel contactbars, H, H, of suitable conducting metal.

non-conducting material, the length of the conducting bar in each being such however as to cover the space between any two contiguous contact-rollers, R, R, or R, R, and

thus insure contact of each conducting-ban bars, H, H, to the motor in the car above, and

since each of the bars, H, H, always holds one of the corresponding rollers, R, or. R, in

its lowest position, the wires, W, W, are constantly in electrical connection and a current passes constantly through the two wires and the motor. This current may of course be interrupted by means otaswitch in either of the wires, 10 w orby any other means under the control of the operator of the car.

The lower edges of the ends of the bars, H, H, are curved upward in order to avoid shock as the bars make or break contact with rollers, R, R, and they are formed of non-conducting material in order to avoid sparking as the blocks, f, f, break contact with the brushes, b, b. The parts of the supply and return wires, W, W, lying within the pipes, 13, B, may be insulated in'any desired manner, as by wrapping'with any suitable substance or by embedding them i in some nonconducting substance with which the pipes are filled: Those parts of the wires lying within the compartments, 0, C, may also be insulated, if desired, except'at their points of contact with the brushes, 1), b.

It is evident that the form andarrangement of the brushes, Z), Z), is not essential, it being only necessary to provide suitable contact surfaces connected with the wires and adapted to receive the contact of the blocks, f,f', for the purpose of closing a circuit. The form shown is desirable, however, as atfording certain and efiective contacts.

The contact-making devices arranged along the wires, \V, W, are shown and described as placed in two-part boxes and this is a convenient and practical construction. It is evident, however, that, if desired, the box may contain but a single chamber inclosing two contact-devices, or that the two chambers instead of being inclosed withina single wall or box may be wholly separate from andtindependent of each other. of the chambers may be made Water-tight and the joint about the rocking shaft DorD may be provided with some simple packingsuflicient to exclude moisture, thus enabling thesystem to work practically in a temporarily flooded conduit, or any other situation, in which complete isolation of the conducting wires is necessaryto guard them againstm 'oisture.

It is evident that. certain details of construction shown and described herein are applicable to a single wire system in which the return is through one of the track wires in electricalconnection with the motor.

Having now described and explained my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In any case each lying withinlsaid pipesection and chambers,

respectively, andinsnlated except at points of exposure within the chambers, the contact brushes, 1), I), attached to said wires, the oscillating levers, F, F, provided with the contact blocks,f,f, adapted to be brought into contact with the brushes, 7), b, and members attached to the levers, F, F, and lying outside the chambers, C,.C, said members being adapted to be actuated by the contact bars, H, H, respectively, as the car moves along the track, whereby the wires, W, W, maybe brought into electrical connection with the motor.

2; The combination with the track and the car moving thereon and provided with a suitable electric motor, of the arm, G, dependent from the car, the transverse bar, G, supported by the arm, the contact bars, H, H,supported by the bar, G, and spaced .with reference to each other by the transverse bars h, the suitablysupported lines of pipe sections, B, B, and chambers, C, O, the conducting wires, W, W, inclosed in said pipe sections and chambers and insulated except at points of exposure within said chambers, the contact levers lyingwithin the chambers. and adapted to make electricalcontacts with said wires, and levers lying'outside the chambers and connected with said contact levers, the contact bars, H, H, being adapted to actuate in succession the contactdevices of said lines respectively, as the car moves along the track, whereby a circuit maybe closedto said'wires and said motor.

3. The combination with the conduit provided with the guide rails, A A the two suitably insulated conductors lying therein and the two sets of contact devices connected with said conductors respectively of the dependent arm, G, the parallel contactbars, H, H, supported by the arm andspaced with reference to each other and the rollers, R R mounted on saidcontact bars and adapted to impinge upon said guide rails and regulate the lateral position ofsaid contact bars thereby insuring the actuation of said contact devices by the bars respectively, substantially as shown and described.

GEORGE E. BAIRD.

Witnesses:

CHARLES O. SHERVEY, A. I. H. EBBEsEN. 

